


Virus

by pink_shoes



Series: Deconstructions [1]
Category: Transformers Generation One
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-20
Updated: 2013-02-20
Packaged: 2017-11-29 21:43:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/691782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pink_shoes/pseuds/pink_shoes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Confined to medbay after an annoying virus wreaks havoc on their base, the Decepticon command staff comes up with an absolutely brilliant plan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Virus

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Вирус (Virus)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/882758) by [zantsu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/zantsu/pseuds/zantsu)



> What am I doing with my life.

The virus had ripped through the underwater base that was the _Victory_ , leaving chaos and confusion in its wake. Nobody was completely sure how it had gotten on-base, though the Constructicons claimed that it appeared to have been written by some of the Autobots’ human allies. This theory was supported by the fact that the virus was annoying, but not lethal. It caused memory files to become disordered, leaving victims disoriented and not much use in a fight. Soundwave and all his symbiotes (minus Rumble and Frenzy, who were on an away mission) had been the first to fall ill. Next was everyone who was unfortunate enough to link in to the Victory’s systems before the virus was discovered. Starscream had managed to slap together a code that would stop the virus from spreading before succumbing himself.

Megatron had thought himself among the lucky mechs who had managed to avoid becoming infected. But that was before he caught himself tearing apart his own quarters in search of a pickaxe. Luckily, he’d still been self-aware enough to stumble to the medbay.

Though the medbay was rather crowded, Megatron was the Constructicons’ top priority from the moment he walked through the door. They put him on a berth in a private room, hooked him up to two separate machines that would monitor his vitals (the virus wasn't capable of killing anyone, but nobody was taking a chance on the leader of the Decepticons) and even turned on one of the telenovelas that both factions enjoyed so much.

Megatron watched the show quietly for a little while, but when the commercial break came, he realized that he had no idea what he was doing in the medbay. Had there been a battle? He looked down at his frame. He appeared to be uninjured. Nothing hurt, and he wasn't receiving any error messages. Disconnecting himself from the monitors, he got up to demand some explanations.

Out in the hallway, Megatron hesitated. This wasn't the medbay at his Kaon headquarters, was it? The layout was all wrong. Everything was too small. Even the ceilings were too low.

“We figured you must be near to offlining from boredom,” said a voice from the next room. “So we decided to visit you.”

Megatron moved towards the sound. The room was another private one, and when he looked inside, he realized that Starscream was hooked up to the same instruments that Megatron had been. His wingmates were standing at his berth, talking to him. It was Skywarp who had spoken.

“Oh.” Starscream looked from Skywarp to Thundercracker dimly. “That…that was nice of you.”

“You’re really not feeling well, are you?” Thundercracker’s optics brightened with amusement.

“No, no, I’m fine. I want to go home now.” Starscream tried to sit up. His wingmates pushed him back down.

“You are not fine,” said Thundercraker. “Just stay here, okay? You’ll be better in a few cycles once Shockwave works out a cure. And then we’ll go fly.”

“I want to fly _now._ ”

“You can’t. You have a virus. You’ll only make yourself worse.”

“No.” Starscream shook his helm vigorously. “You don’t underst—I’m really good at flying. I really am.”

Skywarp was barely fighting down laughter. Thundercracker kicked him.

“Anyway,” said Thundercracker. “We brought you some datapads to pass the time.” He set them down on the table beside the berth. “Is there anything else you want?”

Starscream seemed to consider this. “Will you visit me again later?”

“Sure,” said Thundercracker.

“Can you bring Skyfire with you?”

Thundercracker and Skywarp both looked at each other. The silence stretched across the medbay for a long and uncomfortable moment. Megatron had a nagging suspicion that this was significant, but his processor wasn’t cooperating.

“…He’s not here, is he?” said Starscream at last, a hint of understanding showing on his faceplates.

“No,” said Thundercracker. “He’s not here.”

Then Starscream’s expression went cloudy again, “Well, when you see him, tell him that I need to borrow his notes from Professor Steelsea's class last semester. I can't find mine, and I want to look at them again.”

“I’ll try to remember,” said Thundercracker.

“And also tell him…tell him I miss him and I—”

Skywarp slammed his servo over Starscream’s mouth. Thundercracker turned to look at something else in the room. That was when Megatron realized that Starscream wasn’t alone—Soundwave had been placed in the second berth. Laserbeak was curled up on his chest-plates, apparently keeping him company. She looked far less alert than usual.

After a moment, Starscream managed to wriggle free of Skywarp’s hands. “This is unacceptable. Fetch me the finest medic in Iacon City immediately!”

“We’re not in Iacon,” said Thundercracker. “We’re on Earth. Remember?”

That was alarming. Megatron had assumed they were in Kaon.

Starscream scowled. “Squishy wet muddy planet. Rather be in Iacon.”

“Yeah, well, so would everyone else,” said Skywarp. He glanced towards the door and spotted Megatron. Immediately, his posture smartened up. "Sir!"

"We were just leaving, my lord," said Thundercracker, pulling at Skywarp's arm. The two seekers edged past him and left quickly, as if afraid to see what was going to happen next. But honestly, Megatron wasn't really in the mood to punch Starscream in the faceplates today. He was actually feeling rather laid-back.

"I'm sick," Starscream informed Megatron mournfully.

"I'm not," said Megatron smugly. He sat down on the foot of Soundwave's berth because the room was swimming a little. Soundwave didn't complain, though he did raise one hand and give Megatron a distinctly un-Soundwave-like wave hello. Megatron looked around and noticed that the viewscreen was displaying the same Spanish-language channel as the one in his room. Clearly the Constructicons were trying to keep everyone subdued with endless cycles of fascinating human dramas.

"I'm probably dying," said Starscream. "And it's probably your fault."

"My fault?" said Megatron.

"Yes. Or. No! It's Soundwave's fault. All the stupid music he plays has caused my processor to...crumble."

To demonstrate, Soundwave played the chorus of an upbeat human song for a few klicks. Laserbeak gave him an annoyed look.

"What are you doing here?" asked Starscream. "Come to gloat over my demise?"

In fact, Megatron could no longer recall why he'd entered the room. He decided to take a guess.

"I need a weapon to defeat the Autobots," he said. "I need you to design something."

Starscream’s optics brightened. “Yes! Kill the Autobots! You…you should build…a giant…thing…”

“A purple thing?” asked Megatron, hopefully.

“A giant purple thing,” nodded Starscream.

“That’s a brilliant plan,” said Megatron, because in that moment it was.

“And it will…have tentacles?”

Megatron looked at his SIC, “I thought we were making a weapon?”

“Shhhh. Listen. Shhh.”

Megatron listened, but Starscream said no more because the commercial break had just ended and now Delphina was confessing to Julio that the sparkling belonged to Julio’s long-lost evil twin, Ivan. Julio began throwing chairs around in rage. Human civilian life appeared to be very eventful, in Megatron's opinion. There was no shortages of evil twins, mental disorders, and secret bonding ceremonies. Megatron supposed that this was because humans had short lives, and they wanted to pack in as much excitement as possible.

The segment ended with Delphina sobbing on her front doorstep as the Enforcers took Ivan (he'd been hiding in the attic all along) away.

“Suggestion: Wings,” said Soundwave, as the next commercial break began. He’d been quiet up to this point. But Starscream seemed to like this idea very much, because he applauded.

“It should also have…feet,” said Starscream. “Wait! I have an idea. Since Soundwave came up with such a good suggestion…let’s make it look like Ravage.”

“Still has to be purple, though,” said Megatron.

“Purple Ravage with wings and tentacles,” said Starscream. “I call it…Operation: Giant Purple Ravage with Wings and Tentacles.”

“Let’s make it look like Laserbeak,” said Megatron, reaching over to scratch the aforementioned cassette under her beak. “She is my loyallest soldier.”

“She only has two feet, though,” said Starscream. “Ravage’s body is more…” he made a vague hand gesture.

“Beautiful,” supplied Soundwave.

"Sturdy," said Starscream.

“I will,” announced Megatron, “combine them.”

And he got up.

“Where are you going?” called Starscream.

“Operation: Giant Purple…whatever it…something…” he mumbled, catching the doorframe for balance. The name wasn't important. The important thing was that he had a plan. A brilliant plan, a plan planned by the greatest plan planners in ~~Kaon~~ ~~Iacon~~ the Pacific Ocean.

There was no way this could go wrong, he thought.

When the Constructicons tried to stop him from leaving, he just shoved them out of the way.


End file.
